Gatewood Elementary: ‘Teacher of the Year’, plus ‘Bids for Kids’

| Gatewood | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

(Screenshot from 3/7/12 school-board meeting video)
Gatewood Elementary visual-arts specialist Julie Trout was in the spotlight at this week’s Seattle School Board meeting, honored as Teacher of the Year for the Puget Sound Educational Service District, which includes 35 districts. Here’s the clip – forward to about 2 minutes in:

Julie is now a contender for state Teacher of the Year. We had hoped to catch up with her at Gatewood’s “Bids for Kids” auction last night, after a fellow teacher told us she had “planned and designed all the student art projects” that were featured. We didn’t cross paths, but did see her students’ work, including these creations:

As is the case at most of the school galas, participants really get into the spirit. Gatewood had a Hollywood theme; Tracy Chantorn was channeling Audrey Hepburn as she handled drawing tickets:

Prime time for school auctions – which have become indispensable for raising money to supplement the basics, in an era of public-funding challenges – continues at other local schools throughout this month.

Mama3 March 11, 2012 (8:20 am)

She is AMAZING! My kindergartner just adores her and he was so not into arts to begin with. Happy she has tapped this in him and hope she wins!

Oliver March 11, 2012 (9:53 am)

We are so fortunate to have two great art teachers at Gatewood that really engage the kids! Both Ms. Rachel and Ms. T should win this award.

Happy Parent March 11, 2012 (11:31 am)

While helping out with one of the auction projects, I had the absolute pleasure of sitting in on one of Ms. T’s classes. It was amazing to see all of the kids so completely engaged in class. Ms. T and Ms. Rachel are wizards at using art to teach students about history and different cultures. Thank you Gatewood for making art one of the priorities at school!